but I can take a message.” The entire time I spoke, forcing a pleasant tone, I wondered what the hell she had to talk to my father about. Glancing at her exposed midsection over the tight shorts she wore, I was relieved to see that she wasn’t pregnant. Not visibly anyway.
Shaking off the ridiculous thoughts, because my father would never touch a girl so young, I met her gaze or at least tried to. She was busy gaping at something behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Vaughn approaching, suds and water still dripping from his massive chest and only a towel wrapped around his waist.
“I guess I did catch you at a bad time,” Selena teased before winking. I didn’t miss the way her teeth sank into her bottom lip either—as if she were picturing licking him dry. I’d cut her tongue out if she tried and claw her eyes out while I was at it if she didn’t stop gawking soon.
Moving to block her view, I remembered she was slightly taller—not to mention the fact that Vaughn, being well over six feet, dwarfed us both. There was no hiding him and all his deliciousness.
“What’s going on?” he asked when he finally reached the door. His gaze bounced between Selena and me before settling on moi.
Good boy.
“Nothing,” I quickly replied when I noticed her reaching out a hand for him to shake. I bet she’ll try to grab his dick next. Stop, stop, stop it! “She was just leaving. Maybe you should go put on some clothes?”
I didn’t give a damn how obvious I was being. Vaughn had marked his territory so many times. The double standard ends now.
Smirking at my possessiveness, Vaughn ignored me and shook Selena’s hand. “Vaughn.”
“Selena.”
“Can we help you?” he graciously asked after dropping her hand and immediately wrapping his arm around my waist. His strong hand squeezed my hip in reassurance. Liking the fact that he said “we,” I immediately felt myself relaxing into his embrace.
Oh, God…
I was acting nutty, wasn’t I?
This girl hadn’t done anything to me, and here I was acting like a jealous bitch.
“Oh, God,” Selena groaned. “This is stupid, and I shouldn’t have come here. It’s just that…” She gazed down at me, her bright smile wavering as if reading my thoughts. I told myself to get a grip and offered her an apologetic one in return. It seemed to give her courage because she quickly reached inside the Gucci purse hanging from her shoulder and fumbled around before pulling out sheets of worn-out pale-pink paper. “I found this letter my mom wrote, and I was just curious about the man she wrote it for. She died a long time ago, and to be honest, I barely remember her. I-I guess I’m just grasping at straws. I’m so sorry,” she said, already backing away from the door. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“Wait,” I said while untangling myself from Vaughn and stepping outside. There was a sadness in her brown eyes that called to me. Maybe it was because I lost my mom before I ever really got to know her, too. I couldn’t turn her away. Not now. “What’s your mom’s name?”
My father had never spoken of any woman other than my mom, the love of his life. I had to know what was written in that letter. Nothing other than monumental would have brought Selena all of this way. I recognized that Texan accent.
Selena looked unsure for a moment, but it passed faster than a shooting star, and then she was squaring her shoulders. “Monica. Monica Taylor.”
It felt like the air had been knocked out of me. I was no longer standing but rather flat on my back. Helplessly, I watched the world spin out of control and knew that when it finally stopped, it would no longer look the same. I wasn’t sure how long it took me to find my voice, but when I did, I hated how small it sounded.
“But that’s my mom’s name.”
THIS IS WHAT I GET for thinking with my dick.
After my workout this morning, I had planned to crash, but in a moment of weakness, wanting to hear her voice, I’d called Tyra instead. The Twilight Zone was a fucking walk in the park compared to the shitstorm wreaking havoc on Blackwood Keep. Tyra’s older sister showing up out of the blue, one she never knew existed, was pretty much like jumping from the frying pan and into a roaring fire.